The Almia Girls
by earthbound15
Summary: Get in, graduate, get out. Simple. Easy. Fool-proof. But then Kate's parents make the permanent move to Almia and Kate is thrown right into the middle of a sinister plot for the control of Almia that started before she was born.
1. Come Clean

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. I do, however, own all OC's.**

* * *

_Let the rain fall down__ and wake my dreams_

_Let it wash away__ my sanity_

_Cause I wanna feel the thunder_

_I wanna scream_

_Let the rain fall down_

_I'm coming clean_

**Hilary Duff- Come Clean**

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**Basically the same as the game, but with a few differences:**

**1. The characters are actually more realistic and act like normal people, with normal problems in some people's cases, and not so normal problems in others.**

**2. The game is spread out more time wise. Everything happened in a rush in the game and there were soooo many time skips. I'll be going through what happened in these time skips.**

**3. The player person actually…you know…_talks_. And has a personality.**

**4. There are more OC's (but mainly just the extra characters with personalities and more screen time. Like the students, area rangers and operators). And the OC's have backgrounds, personalities and relationships with the main characters.**

**5. Some people's personalities are changed completely. I won't list anyone in particular, but people who were soft and sweet in the game might be hard and vicious now.**

**6. The sizes of buildings and towns are bigger. Like the Ranger School, which you will see soon.**

**7. People actually use modern technologies, such as cars and phones.**

**8. The people aren't completely oblivious to the opposite sex. In the case of the girls, they are waaaaaay more boy crazy.**

**And let me warn you this. This story is going to have more love complications than A Midsummer Night's Dream.**

* * *

**Chapter 1. School is now in session**

"Draw loops around the Pikachu and capture it," the man behind her instructed her. Kate fumbled with the Styler, but somehow managed to release the capture disc and capture the Pikachu.

"Okay, good going. That's pretty impressive." The man smirked.

"Thanks, I didn't even know what I was doing," Kate laughed, turning the Styler over in her hand. The man blinked, but chose to take it as a joke and laughed as well.

"Hehehe…" The man chuckled. "My name is Kaplan. You are now a member of our secret army, the inscrutable Team School." Kate blinked and made a small noise of confusion, but the man-Kaplan-continued talking. "As proof of your membership, you are conferred the School Styler you just used." Kaplan took her hands in his and looked her solemnly in the eyes. "Use it well. TOGETHER WE SHALL RULE THE WORLD!"

"Oh, please, Mr Kaplan!" Another voice made Kate and Kaplan's head snap up. A young looking woman was walking towards them, her youthful features modelled into an irritated expression.

"Please don't tease my student with a silly performance like that," the woman continued, and Kate realized with a start that the woman was her teacher.

"Ahahaha, sorry, sorry," Mr Kaplan snickered. "The timing was just too perfect to miss."

The teacher rolled her eyes in annoyance and Kate couldn't help but smile.

"Ahem." Mr Kaplan cleared his throat. "Congratulations! You have passed the Ranger School's entrance exam with flying colours! That really was quite an impressive capture."

"Congratulations!" The teacher turned and beamed at Kate. "You've been accepted! Starting today, you are officially a student of the Ranger school!"

"And you can help me plan world domination," Mr Kaplan hissed to Kate, his eyes darting about. "OW!"

"Now," the teacher continued, taking her high heel off of Mr Kaplan's foot. "I'm Ms April. I'm your class teacher."

"Nice to meet you." Kate held out her hand to Ms April, who shook her hand with a beam.

"Nice to see another student with manners! I'm very pleased to meet you. Your classmates are waiting for you. I'll show you to our class."

Kate gulped, suddenly nervous. "S-sure, l-lead the way!"

Ms April turned on her heel and gracefully walked out of the room, Kate following her and feeling slightly awkward compared to Ms April's fluid movements.

"Enjoy your school life!" Mr Kaplan called after her. "Don't forget to come back to help me plan world domination!"

Mr Kaplan ducked the rock Ms April threw at him and chuckled; pleased he could still get under the normally calm and composed teacher's skin.

**- x - x - x - x -**

"Sorry to keep you waiting, class." Ms April stood at the front of the class, her cheeks slightly flushed with a combination of frustration and exertion. "And good morning, everyone!"

"Good morning, Miss April!" the class chanted back in unison.

"As I mentioned yesterday, we have a new member for our class."

The whole class straightened up and everyone started talking.

"Is it a guy?" Billy asked, his round hazel eyes wide. "Or a girl?"

"I hope it's a guy," Tiara sighed as she fanned herself slightly. "There aren't enough interesting guys around here…"

"What do you think, Keith?" Rhythmi asked him. Keith shrugged.

"Who cares? As long as they keep out of my way, I'll be fine."

"Which is it?" Billy repeated, getting excited at the possibilities.

"Okay, that's enough!" Ms April called over the mayhem of the class. "You can see for yourself. Here's our latest classmate!"

Kate hovered in the shadows created by the door.

"Come on in!" Ms April beamed at Kate, oblivious to her nervousness. Kate took a deep breath and stepped inside the classroom, extremely aware of everyone's eyes on her. She took few steps inside the classroom, then, convinced she wouldn't faint or fall, walked up to Ms April.

"Our new friend came alone to our Almia region to become a Pokémon Ranger," Ms April began, but suddenly stopped and turned to Kate. "Oh, yes. You should introduce yourself to our class rather than me. Let's start with your name, shall we?"

"I'm Kate," Kate whispered.

"Your name is Kate?" Ms April asked. Kate tried to refrain from rolling her eyes (why would she say her name was Kate if it wasn't?).

"Yes, Ms April," Kate politely said.

"Okay, our new friend is named Kate." Ms April turned to the class. "Let's make her feel welcome."

"Hi, Kate!" Jake called up goofily. "I'm Jake!"

Kate gave him a small wave. "Hi, Jake. I'm Kate!"

"Really?" Jake's eyes widened in mock surprise. "I never knew that!"

A nervous giggle spilled out of Kate's lips and Keith glared at Jake. Kate mentally filed away the Asian boy in the 'Find out more about' folder in her brain. He was stunningly good looking – more beautiful than handsome – and moved with a refined elegance to his moves. He seemed the polar opposite of Billy, who was only slighter shorter than the tall, gorgeous Tiara and rather average looking with his spiky brown hair.

"I understand that she scored quite well on our entrance exam," Ms April continued as if no one had spoken. Keith smirked and Ms April looked faintly amused. "What is it Keith? Why the big grin?"

"No reason." Keith shrugged. "What, can't a guy grin in this school?"

Ms April rolled her eyes at him, but turned back to Kate. "Anyway, we had better get you seated somewhere, Kate." She studied the classroom. "Hm… you can have the seat next to Keith." Kate moved to the chair and sat down quietly, Keith watching her out of the corner of his eye. "Okay, that will do." Ms April nodded. "That's it for treating you like a new transfer student. From now on, you're all my students, people who I can take pride in teaching."

"Aw, shucks, Miss!" Billy pretended to be bashful. "We love you too!"

Tiara elbowed Billy sharply in the ribs. "Shut up, Billy!"

"Owwww!" Billy whined, wriggling away. "That hurt! Rhythmi, make her stop!"

"Shut up, Billy." was all Rhythmi said.

"Let's do it, everyone!" Ms April spoke over their argument. "LET'S NOT FAIL YOUR DREAMS OF BECOMING RANGERS, OPERATORS AND MECHANICS!"

"YEAAAH!" everyone around Kate cheered.

"Okay, I'll change the class schedule especially for today. This will be a free-study class." Ms April made to leave, but stopped by Kate's desk. "But before I leave, Kate, I need to explain something to you. It's about the School Styler you were provided with before the entrance exam."

"What about it?" Kate asked.

"It's a simplified version of a Ranger's official Capture styler," Ms April informed her. "Now, put simply, a Styler is a device used for befriending and capturing Pokémon. By drawing loops around Pokémon, it conveys the Ranger's feelings of friendship to the Pokémon. When the Ranger's friendship is fully conveyed, the Pokémon is captured."

For about ten minutes Ms April continued explaining the Capture styler, everything which Kate had read from the Pokémon Ranger's Official Handbook and the class had learnt before. Keith let out a yawn and Ms April stopped in irritation.

"Oh, please, Keith, don't yawn with your mouth wide open like that."

Keith turned a deep shade of red and Ms April continued talking about the Styler.

"Don't you think the new student is kind of interesting?" Rhythmi whispered in Keith's ear, hoping to get a reaction from him. Keith shrugged, still angry that Ms April had embarrassed him in front Kate. Rhythmi looked slightly upset, but shook herself out of it when Ms April turned to her.

"Rhythmi, can I get you to show Kate around the school, please?" Ms April asked her.

"Of course!" Rhythmi beamed. "I'll show her everything I know! Even the secret passage Tiara told me all the couples-" She was cut off by Tiara's hand over her mouth.

"Shut _up_, idiot!" hissed Tiara.

"I'll be in the staffroom." Ms April looked highly amused. "I'll leave you to it."

As soon as Ms April left, the students all crowded around Kate.

"We are not worthy," chanted Jake and Billy, bowing on the floor to Kate. "We are not worthy…"

"What?" Kate blinked, confused. Jake and Billy grabbed at the edges of Kate's jacket, oblivious to her flinch.

"You made Ms April give us a free study period! WE'VE BEEN TRYING FOR AGES TO DO THAT!"

Keith pushed them away, eager to gain Kate's attention. "Hey, new kid, I forgot your name, but how long did it take you to capture Pikachu?" Keith put on his aggressive face. "Like an hour?"

"Actually…" Kate shrugged. "More like a few seconds…it really wasn't that hard."

Keith flushed. "Liar! No one's ever captured a Pokémon in a few seconds on their first go! Not even me!"

Rhythmi tapped Kate on the shoulder, gaining her attention and making her jump, startled. "Keith's just a show-off. You're better off ignoring him."

"Like Mayblie so clearly does everyday!" Jake called, cracking up laughing.

"Ooh, burn!" Billy crooned, exchanging hi-fives with Jake. "Also it's Rhythmi."

"Whatever."

"Instead, you should be paying attention to me!" Rhythmi cried, ignoring them. "I'm not here to become a Ranger. I want to become an Operator instead. So when Keith becomes a Ranger, I can order him around like my servant!" Kate stared at Rhythmi. Rhythmi giggled. "Just joking!"

Kate's alarmed gaze didn't flicker. "Didn't seem like you were."

"You'll get used to it." Rhythmi gave Kate a playful shove. "All right, let me take you on a tour of the Ranger School. Let's begin with our own classroom. You've already met our teacher, Ms April. She's really nice, but if you make her mad…"

The room gave a collective shudder.

"I saw her get mad at Mr Kaplan," Kate offered. "She threw a rock at him and stepped on his foot with her high heel."

"Yeah, but she does that everyday," Jake spoke up.

"There's another class next to us." Rhythmi gestured to the wall. "The teacher there is Mr Kincaid. He's very uptight and strict."

"No running in the hallway!" Billy interrupted, mimicking who Kate guessed to be Mr Kincaid. "It's like his pet saying."

"I'm sorry, who's leading this tour?" Rhythmi snapped. "That's right, me. Not you, **me**. So shut up!"

"What else are you going to show her in this classroom?" Tiara asked. "There's nothing else here."

"Oh…" Rhythmi surveyed the room. "So there isn't. Okay, let's move on! We'll explore the school building!" Rhythmi started pushing Kate out the door. Kate flinched whenever Rhythmi touched her, then let out a yelp as she toppled out the classroom. "Oops, sorry." Rhythmi winced, helping Kate up. "I've been told my enthusiasm makes things difficult for others."

"No, it's fine." Kate dusted herself off. "Where to first, oh pushy one?"

Rhythmi gave Kate a playful shove. "I'm not pushy!"

"Don't worry, Rhythmi, everyone has problems." Kate patted Rhythmi consolingly on the shoulder. "So, once again, where to first?"

"Well…" Rhythmi pondered, forgetting about what they were talking about before. "I was telling you about Mr Kincaid, right? We'll go to his classroom first! Get it over and done with…"

Rhythmi tugged Kate over to the other classroom, pausing to knock politely on the door.

"Hm?" Mr Kincaid glanced up. "What ever is the matter?"

"Sorry to disturb you!" Rhythmi exclaimed, bowing slightly. "I'm taking our new classmate on a tour of the School."

"Who's he?" Kate spoke quietly in Rhythmi's ear.

"This is the other class," Rhythmi whispered back. "The man looking this way is Mr Kincaid. He gets his hair to go that way with a ton of hair spray."

"Right…" Kate arched a delicate eyebrow. "Because I totally wanted to know how to style my hair like that…is that why it stinks?"

Rhythmi stifled a giggle, but shrugged. "He's a little too uptight, I think. I'm not a big fan."

Kate glanced at Mr Kincaid. "Right…let's go. He's kind of creeping me out…"

The two girls quickly left the classroom, Mr Kincaid's stern gaze following them out.

"This is the library," Rhythmi announced, gesturing to the shelves of books surrounding them. Kate took in all the books, star struck.

"Wow…" she breathed. Rhythmi laughed.

"I take it you like books?"

"Love them," Kate whispered, still gazing around the library.

"You're the complete opposite of Keith." Rhythmi giggled. "This is probably his napping area."

"Oh." Kate frowned. Rhythmi continued.

"Not many people are here when it isn't exam time. Or…so I've heard. Only two people come here…" She stopped and blinked at a boy with curly green hair sleeping behind a potted plant. "And there's one of them. That's Ponte… otherwise known as the school's conflicted marshmallow boy."

Kate frowned at her. "That's not very nice!"

Rhythmi shrugged. "What? He _is_. Maybe you'll see him around while he's awake, but I doubt it. He's usually in the library."

Kate sighed. "Well then...who's that guy? He looks around our age."

Rhythmi glanced up. "You mean the kid at the back with a haircut like a mushroom? Oh, he's Isaac. He's awesomely smart. You can usually find him right here in the library. Sometimes he goes off somewhere though."

"His hair doesn't really look like a mushroom." Kate blinked, tilting her head. "Unless you have a huge imagination! Like my little sister, she's so cute."

"You have a little sister?" Rhythmi asked curiously and with a trace of envy. "Lucky! I'm an only child."

"Having a sibling isn't all it's cracked up to be." Kate shook her head. "Sometimes it's cool though."

Rhythmi slapped her forehead. "God, I really need to focus! Let's go up and introduce you to Isaac!"

"What? No-" Kate began, but was cut off by Rhythmi dragging her by the wrist up to the boy standing at one of the (many) bookshelves.

"Isaac~!" Rhythmi sang, making the boy look sharply at them, startled by their presence. She gestured to Kate, who had a faint blush on her cheeks at Isaac's sharp gaze. "This is Kate! She's new here!"

"I was doing an eight-digit multiplication in my head when you interrupted me." Isaac frowned at her. " I'll have to start calculating from the top."

Rhythmi look unperturbed. "I'm sure you'll manage! You're smarter than most of the teachers here!"

Kate, however, felt guilty, and it showed clearly on her face. "Sorry."

Isaac shrugged. "It's nothing. I'm Isaac. Both my IQ and height, in centimetres, are 163."

"Whatever, tall freak," muttered Rhythmi, who was a petite 150cm tall.

"I'm studying to become a scientist," Isaac continued, either not hearing or ignoring what Rhythmi said. "Mr Kincaid gave me permission to study on my own and not attend class."

"Wow!" Kate looked shocked. Rhythmi looked envious.

"I wish I didn't have to attend class."

"No you don't," Isaac said, turning back to the bookshelf.

After a few minutes of silence, the two girls realized that was his way of dismissing them. They slowly backed out of the library and Rhythmi led them into another room.

"Here's the Staff Room!" Rhythmi exclaimed, turning around and spreading her arms out. She stopped and thought for a moment. "But usually only our principal is here. Our principal is Mr Lamont. His eyes are always twinkling happily behind his glasses. I like him pretty well."

"Is that him?" Kate asked, pointing to the gray-haired man with glasses standing in front of a green banner. Rhythmi peered over the desks.

"It is! Come on, let's go say hello!"

This time Kate didn't even struggle, knowing how strong a determined Rhythmi could be. Though she still let out an involuntary flinch.

"Mr Lamont!" Rhythmi yelled excitedly, screeching to a stop in front of the principal. Mr Lamont chuckled and pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"Hello, Rhythmi." His eyes slid to Kate curiously. "Who's your friend?"

Rhythmi pushed Kate in front of her. "This is Kate! She's new!"

"Pleased to meet you?" Kate said hesitantly, offering her hand. Mr Lamont chuckled again and shook it.

"I'm Lamont Splendidocious, the principal. My last name's far too long though, so everyone calls me by my first name. I'm pleased to meet you."

Rhythmi apparently grew bored of the conversation and started dragging Kate away again.

"Come on, Kate, let's go see the school dorms!" she exclaimed, dragging Kate by the arm.

Kate finally managed to get her arm away. "Rhythmi, that thing you're dragging?" Kate snapped at her. "That's my arm. It's sort of attached to my body."

Rhythmi flinched. "Sorry."

Kate sighed and shook her head. "Me too. I'm just kind of weird about unnecessary contact. I have a one meter personal bubble rule."

A small smile graced the features of Rhythmi as they walked up the stairs to the dorms.

"Our dorms are on the second floor," Rhythmi announced, gesturing to around the room. "This is where we all bunk down, coed style. Not in the same bedrooms, of course. The boys' bedroom is on the left. The girls' bedroom is on the right. Janice, the lady there, is our caretaker. She's like a mom to us all."

A strange pang hit Kate in the heart as she thought of her own mother. It was only a day and she missed her already. They left the floor back down the stairs.

"The other dorms are on the third and fourth floors," Rhythmi announced, pointing up. "But they're for the people in the other levels."

Kate blinked. "Other…levels?"

"Oh, that's right, you don't know about levels!" Rhythmi smacked her forehead in realization. "I guess I should explain. Well, here at the Ranger School, everyone starts off at Beginner Level. Every term, we move up a level. After Beginner, the levels are Intermediate, Complex and Expert, in that order."

"But our classes are the same, right?" Kate asked. Rhythmi nodded in confirmation.

"Yep. So we're going to be in the same class for the whole year! You've joined pretty late into Beginner Level classes, but you seem to be doing pretty well from what Ms April said, so I guess its okay."

"Right."

"And we get new beginner students every term, and _they_ move up a level every term, too."

_Ding-dong~! Ding-dong~!_

Kate jumped sky high but Rhythmi only smiled. "There goes the bell! We can go outside now!"

"We can only go outside once the bell rings?" Kate looked confused.

"Well, technically we're supposed to be in class right now," Rhythmi pointed out logically. "And if we're in class, we're not outside."

"Ah, right." Kate nodded. "Makes sense."

Kate let Rhythmi lead her through the school and to the door. She pushed the door open, squinting her eyes at the sudden bright light. Rhythmi voiced Kate's thoughts from behind her.

"Wow, how bright! There's not a cloud in the sky today!"

"Except that one." Kate pointed to a small whisp of a cloud. She squinted at it. "It looks kind of like a snake!"

Rhythmi giggled. "Wouldn't _all_ clouds look like a snake?"

"No, see, coz that one has a forked tongue!" Kate argued, still pointing. "That totally makes it a snake!"

Rhythmi laughed again but continued with the tour. She pointed to the room Kate had first gone into. "That small building is the Training Room. That's where Mr Kaplan will teach you about performing captures. Ms Claire is also there. She teaches about clearing targets." She pointed to a few big boxes. "That big clearing over there is where we practice doing Target Clears." Rhythmi paused and turned back to Kate. "That reminds me…do you know about clearing targets?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…of course I do!" Kate scoffed. Rhythmi laughed.

"Your expression tells me you don't know. Well, that's all right. That's why we have the Training Room. Come on, I'll take you there!" Rhythmi grabbed Kate's arm, but stopped again when she remembered Kate's rule. "Sorry."

Kate shrugged, before smirking. "Race you to the Training Room. Last one there's a rotten egg!"

Kate shot off like a bullet, Rhythmi following her a moment later. Once they reached the small building, Kate gloated to Rhythmi.

"You were the last one here, you're a rotten egg!" Kate gloated, panting slightly. Rhythmi huffed back at her.

"You were the first one here, you have to eat one!"

"When did we make that agreement?"

Rhythmi entered the building without replying, gesturing for Kate to follow her. It took Kate's eyes a few moments to adjust to the change from harsh brightness to foggy dimness.

Rhythmi searched the room quickly, before spotting the man from earlier, along with another teacher.

"Mr Kaplan and Ms Claire~!" Rhythmi sang out. "Can you give us special lessons, please~?"

"Why the hell are you talking like that?" Kate muttered to Rhythmi. Rhythmi's bright, sunny smile didn't flicker for an instant.

"Because you have to constantly have a happy image here at school or they ship you off to a therapist in some far away land."

"Ah." Kate nodded. "That explains a lot."

"Hehehe…" Mr Kaplan chuckled, oblivious to their conversation. "Welcome to the inscrutable Team School's secret hideout."

"We have a secret hideout?" Kate's eyes widened. "That is so cool!"

The other teacher heard and decided to step in before Mr Kaplan raised any more hopes to be crushed.

"Yes, yes, we've heard that before," Ms Claire, a short, squat teacher, spoke up, walking over. "Let's pay no attention to Mr Kaplan and his make-believe conspiracy."

"What?" Kate looked disappointed. "Damn. I've always wanted a secret hideout."

"I'll take you to the girls' secret hideout later," Rhythmi hissed back to her. "None of the teachers know about it."

Kate brightened. "Oh, cool."

Mr Kaplan was once again oblivious to their conversation. "Oh! Please don't ignore me! I'll be serious and introduce myself. Um, I'm Mr Kaplan, I teach the fundamentals of capture."

"And I'm Ms Claire," Ms Claire added on. "Glad to meet you. It's my job to teach you about performing Target Clears."

"Once again, Target Clears are what, exactly?" Kate asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We'll explain that later," Rhythmi told her. Kate huffed and pouted.

"Damn."

"I know you had to do a capture for your entrance exam, but…I think you should learn about capturing properly once more," Rhythmi continued almost apologetically. "Mr Kaplan, can you give Kate a lesson on capturing, please?"

Mr Kaplan beamed. "That's an admirable attitude. Okay, I'll give you a special lesson: the fundamentals of capture."

He was talking for about fifteen minutes about capturing (how he took that long to say something that could generally be summed up like 'you take the disc and make a swirly thingy around the Pokémon', Kate had no idea).

That's about it for the basics of captures," Mr Kaplan finally finished. "If you need a refresher lesson please don't hesitate to come and see me."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Kate told him with a fake sunny smile to mask her boredom. Rhythmi finally snapped out of the zoned out stage she entered when Mr Kaplan started talking.

"Thank you, Mr Kaplan!" Rhythmi exclaimed, before turning to Kate. "Next you'll finally learn what we mean by Target Clear! Ms Claire, please give Kate a lesson about performing a Target Clear."

"Very well." Ms Claire nodded. "This will be a special lesson. You'll learn about the basics of performing a Target Clear."

Once again, it took the teacher fifteen minutes to basically say 'kill the box with some random Pokémon around. Oh, but it has to be a special type of Pokémon. It can't be a Bonsly or a Taillow, it's gotta be something like a Bidoof'.

Rhythmi came crashing back to earth again when Ms Claire had finished.

"Thank you very much, Ms Claire!" Rhythmi chirped, before turning to Kate again. "Now you know all about capture and how to do a Target Clear! You're all set! Let's go back to the school yard. There's another place I want you to see."

"Onwards then." Kate raised an eyebrow back at her. The two left the building, only to stop again when they heard a scream.


	2. The Reason

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. I do, however, own all OC's.**

* * *

_I've found a reason for me_

_To change who I used to be_

_A reason to start over new_

_And the reason is you_

**Hoobastank- The Reason**

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**Chapter 2****. The ritual**

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" the person cried. "Help, someone! Anyone! Catch the Bidoof for me!"

Rhythmi and Kate turned, only to gasp when they saw a crowd of Bidoof running away from Janice, the caretaker.

"J-Janice?" Rhythmi gasped. "She's having trouble with the Bidoof!"

"I can see that," Kate said dryly, not really seeing what the big deal was. Rhythmi turned to Kate.

"Please, Kate! Capture the Bidoof and get them to settle down!"

"Heh, I was wondering what the ruckus was all about." A smug voice made them turn around. "Looks like a good time that's up for grabs!"

"Keith!" Rhythmi snarled, seeing the boy standing in front of the door to the school. "Don't just stand there! You help with the captures too!"

Keith came over to them. "It won't be much fun if I just help. Hey, new kid! I forgot your name, but I challenge you! We'll have a capture race, you and me! We'll see who can capture the most Bidoof, all right?"

Kate looked interested, but Rhythmi looked merely irritated. "Can't you make the effort to learn our classmate's name? You can be so annoying, Keith! Go ahead and have your silly race or whatever, but hurry up!"

"Okay, let's get on with it! Three…two…one! START!" Keith yelled. Immediately, the two Rangers in training split up. Kate chased after two Bidoof and whipped out her styler. It was pretty easy catching them, though one did make her shriek, startled, when it feigned an attack at her. Rhythmi shot her a weird look.

"What the hell?"

Kate just blushed in reply. "I completely forgot Pokémon could attack while you were capturing them…"

Ten minutes later, Kate had just finished capturing her fourth Bidoof. Rhythmi pulled herself off the ground.

"That's all the Bidoof now," she said. Keith walked up, a line of Bidoof trailing behind him.

"I caught five," he announced. Annoyance flickered on Kate's face.

"Cheater," she hissed. Keith furrowed his brow, still talking.

"That means you caught…uh…" Keith wrinkled his nose. "…four. That's means…victory is mine! YES!"

"Whatever, _cheater_," Kate muttered as Keith did his Ranger pose.

"You looked good at it, too!" Janice complimented Keith. Keith glowed under the attention.

"I know I did."

"Of course, I also need to thank our new friend and Rhythmi too," Janice continued, turning to Rhythmi and Kate. "Thank you all for this. This is a big relief for me." She turned to the Bidoof. "And to the leader Bidoof, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to tread on your tail. I'll make it up to you with tastier treats than usual. Come along, everyone."

Janice trotted off somewhere and the Bidoof followed her obediently. Keith turned to Kate, his nose stuck snobbishly up in the air. "I'd rate your captures around 65 out of 100."

Kate shot him an irritated look. "What the hell? I got three S ranks and an A rank! That is some serious skill there!"

She was about to flounce off in a huff, but Keith grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"Hey, but you know…I'll be honest…I was pretty surprised by how you did. You might be decent for someone who just learned about this," Keith told her, his cheeks slightly red as he gazed at Kate. "You said your name was Kate, right?"

Kate nodded, staring right back. "Yeah…I did."

Rhythmi felt jealousy rise up in her as she observed the two. She quashed it as she grabbed onto Kate's arm and discreetly tugged her back slightly.

"Oh, you, Keith!" Rhythmi trilled, trying to ignore the painful twangs in her chest. "You knew our friend's name all along! For goodness' sake…oh! That's right! There's somewhere I haven't shown you yet!"

"What is it?" Kate asked, finding it impossible to meet Keith's eyes.

"What, you mean Ascension Square?" Keith asked, finding it equally impossible to meet Kate's eyes.

"Yes!" Rhythmi practically shrieked, the pain in her heart becoming harder to ignore. "Now we have to go, bye-"

Then I'll go too," Keith interrupted. Kate's face lit up while Rhythmi's fell.

"Oh, all right. I guess we'll let you come with us," she muttered, setting off for Ascension Square. Kate followed her and Keith followed Kate like a baby duck. The three walked down a long set of stone stairs, only to end up in a large grassy area.

"This is Ascension Square," Rhythmi announced, gesturing around her. "Next month there's going to be a special class here. It's the Outdoor Class."

"What do you do in Outdoor Class?" Kate asked. Keith straightened up.

"They're going to have a real Ranger come in to answer our questions!" Keith grinned. "I can't wait for Outdoor Class."

Rhythmi ignored him. "That monument there is called the Pledge Stone," Rhythmi informed Kate as the trio walked over to monument. "If you make a firm pledge to each other with your friends here, it will surely come true…"

It was eerily silent for a few moments as the three looked up at the Pledge Stone.

"Or, at least, that's what Principal Lamont told me," Rhythmi broke the silence, turning to Kate. "And there you have it! That concludes Rhythmi's school tour of Wonder and Excitement."

"Awesome." Kate raised an eyebrow. Rhythmi giggled.

"Kate! I'm glad to have met you! I hope we can be friends for a long time."

Kate blinked as Rhythmi pulled her into a hug. "Um…same here?"

"Hey, hold it now!" Keith interrupted, elbowing Rhythmi out of the way. "Don't worry about Rhythmi. Be friends with me, okay?"

Kate shrank back from the two. "Can't I be friends with both of you?"

Keith's answer was cut off by the bell.

_Ding dong~! Ding dong~!_

"Oh, there goes the bell," Rhythmi cut in. "We'd better get back to class." She suddenly smirked. "But, boy, oh boy, Keith…Aren't you the slick one!"

Keith huffed and Kate blinked. "What the hell is wrong with everyone here?"

Rhythmi laughed as she started walking back. "You'll get used to it, dear."

**- x - x - x - x -**

Kate was lying on her bed, staring at the bottom of the bunk bed on top of her. Rhythmi poked her head down from the top bunk bed.

"Kate, do you write letters?" Rhythmi asked her. "I'm thinking of writing to my mom and dad about you, Kate."

"Yeah, I write letters," Kate answered with a slight smirk. "I've already written to my little sis about today."

"Oh?" Rhythmi blinked. "Well, I hope your sister replies!"

"Hey, new kid," a girl with purple eyes and wavy dark grey hair that fell just past her hips spoke up. "Your name's Kate, right?"

"Yeah." Kate eyed her. "Who are you?"

The girl grinned from her position on the windowsill. "I'm Ashley. I'm in the class next to yours, training to be a Ranger, along with Wynette here."

Ashley gestured to another girl, who was sitting cross legged on a bunk bed with froggies on the yellow bedspread.

"Nice to meet you," said Wynette, a lanky girl with olive green eyes and long, teal hair. "I'm hoping to be a Top Ranger, just like my older sister!"

Kate's gaze slid to a girl with golden eyes, who was curled up and reading on the bed above Wynette's. The bedspread was pink and had an elegant black design on it. "What about her?"

Ashley followed her line of sight. "Oh, that's Ember. Her parents are mega rich, she's travelled everywhere. We have no idea why she decided to come here, but she's studying to be a scientist."

Ember, a delicate-looking girl with golden eyes and short brown hair, looked up quietly from her book and nodded once to Kate, before returning to her book. The light made her hair appear a lighter brown when she looked up, but it returned back to normal when she looked down again.

"She doesn't talk much, but when she does it's usually pretty friendly," Ashley whispered.

"And you already know me," Tiara added from her bed. Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Duh. You're in the same class." She yawned. "I'm going to bed, night."

Ashley gave a small wave, before returning to her own bed, which was the bed above Tiara's. She stretched out on the Mime Jr patterned bed spread, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Rhythmi hopped down from her bed and grinned at Kate.

"Say…let's sneak out for a while."

"Um…" Kate blinked at her. "Sure."

The two left the room quietly and entered the beginner students' lounge. They were greeted by Keith, Jake and Ember. Kate gaped at her.

"But…you were…what…oh god, I'm confused."

"No," Ember murmured. Her voice was a rich and smooth like melted chocolate, with a crisp British accent. "Just slow."

"Thanks for waiting," Rhythmi whispered.

"Yeah, keep us waiting, Rhythmi," Keith grumbled. Rhythmi turned to everyone else.

"Okay, let's get started with our test of courage to welcome Kate!"

"Yay!" everyone whispered/cheered. Except Ember, of course. She just watched on with her large, topaz eyes.

"What?" Kate hissed in disbelief.

"Relax, newbie." Keith smirked. "We just want you to prove you're brave, is all. I had to do it before too. It's no big deal."

"Yeah, but there's a difference between me and you!" Kate snarled quietly. "You had stupidity to block your fear!"

Keith's smirk dropped. "What'd you say?"

Kate glared at him. "You heard me."

Keith opened his mouth, but then smirked again. "Yeah, you're right. You do have that easily scared look to you. No offence."

"Hope you don't take offence to my foot up your ass," Kate mumbled.

"Come on, Kate!" Billy cried enthusiastically. "Don't let him talk to you like that!"

"Fine," Kate agreed reluctantly. "What do I have to do?'

Rhythmi smiled. "The rules are simple. The four of us have hidden our Stylers in four different places in the school."

"What?" Kate interrupted. "Why would you do that?"

"Look, can I just continue?" Rhythmi asked, glaring at her. "Because no matter what you say, you're still going down there."

Kate waved a hand dismissively. "Right. Continue."

"They are: Ms April's class, Mr Kincaid's class, the staff room, and the library. Gather all four Stylers, then put them in front of the door to the basement room." Rhythmi smiled. "It's not hard or anything, but it's also not safe to go alone."

"Why?" Kate asked, giving her a weird look. "What's there to be afraid of? Dust?" Rhythmi levelled her with a glare. Kate put her hands up defensively. "Right. Still going down there. Got it."

"That's why we've always had this one rule: the student seated next to the initiate has to go to."

"Gweh!" Keith started. "You mean me…"

"Who else?" muttered Billy, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, you two." Rhythmi smiled pleasantly, making shooing motions with her hands. "Shoo. Off you go. Bye-bye."

"Gah!" Keith grumbled, picking himself up off the chair. "Why me?"

"Oh, whatever," Kate snapped, glaring at him. "Don't act like you didn't plan this."

She stormed off before Keith could reply. Not that he could, his mouth having been opened so widely in a gape that Ember was murmuring remarks about flies going in. He jerked slightly and ran after her.

Kate was hovering at the bottom of the stairs, trying to decide where to go first. Keith hurried up to her. Kate sighed in annoyance and took one step off the stairs. He followed her, but a creaking noise made him scream and jump back.

"WAAAAAAAAH!"

"What?" Kate snapped at him, turning around to glower at him. Keith whimpered.

"The-there's something there!"

Kate followed his line of sight, only to sigh when she saw a Bidoof. Keith calmed down slightly. "Oh, it's only a Bidoof…it just startled me."

Kate looked at him flatly. "Keith, you are the biggest fucking coward I have ever met."

With that said, she zipped off the capture the Bidoof. Keith gaped after her, before sprinting to catch up.

**- x - x - x - x -**

The box caved in and disappeared, leaving a styler glinting dimly in the light. Kate smiled and picked up the Styler. Billy's, by the scratch marks on it. She pulled her Ranger pose without thinking, giggling a little. Keith's voice snapped her out of her triumph.

"You've found a Styler!" he exclaimed. "That leaves 3 more."

"Yeah." Kate glared at him. "Looks like."

"But my hint helped a little, right?" Keith asked hopefully. Kate stared at him.

"Yeah…because if you weren't here, I totally would not have known to break open the box." Keith's face fell and guilt twanged in Kate's heart. "Hey, it really did help, Keith. How was I supposed to know that the boxes weren't supposed to be there?"

Keith looked up with a half smile. "Why would you think the boxes were supposed to be there?"

Kate shrugged, smiling slightly. "I don't know. To block off Pokémon from getting to our desks?"

The two laughed and exited their own classroom, leaving to go to Mr Kincaid's classroom.

**- x - x - x - x -**

Kate crept by the Zubat and grabbed the Styler that smelt strongly of expensive perfume. From what Ashley and Wynette had told her, it probably belonged to Ember.

"You've found another Styler!" Keith cried. "That leaves 2 more."

Kate nodded. "God that was easy."

Once again, the two left, laughing. They walked along the moon-lit corridor, their footsteps echoing. Keith snuck a look at Kate out of the corner of his eye. The moon had cast a soft glow on her face and made her eyes shine. He blushed when he realized he was ogling her and looked forward again. Just in time, too, because Kate had arrived at the next room she wanted to go to. They went inside.

"This is the staff room…" Keith turned to Kate. "And the hint for this room is…the Styler we hid here doesn't stay still. You understand, don't you?"

Kate looked at him in confusion. "What?" Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a Pichu running around like there was no tomorrow. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. It's on the Pichu? How did you even get it on the Pichu?"

Keith's eyes darted around. "You shall never know…"

Kate rolled her eyes and engaged in a fifteen minute game of chase with Pichu.

"STAY STILL!" Kate finally screeched at the fleeing baby pokémon. It skidded to a stop in its fear and Kate blinked. "Wow, I can't believe that actually worked."

She captured it before it could start running again and received a lightening bolt to the Styler for her troubles. Once she captured it, she found a Styler taped to its tummy.

"Keith!" Kate gasped. "You taped it to its stomach? That's so mean!"

She gently removed the tape and let the Pichu run away. It did so, but not before hugging Kate's leg.

"You've found another Styler!" Keith grinned. "That-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Kate interrupted. "That leaves 1 more. You know, Keith, that is getting really repetitive, really fast."

Keith scowled. "Whatever. You found my styler by the way."

"Explains why it's so crappy."

The two left, arguing, for the last room: the library.

**- x - x - x - x -**

"The library's scary at night, too…" Keith whispered. Kate shot him a funny look.

"Why?"

Keith blinked at her. "Well, you know, it's all dark…and stuff…it's like someone's lurking here…" He glanced around nervously. "Get on with finding that Styler. I want to get going."

"Whatever," Kate muttered, looking at the boxes in front of her. She muttered a curse, went back and caught a Bidoof, and returned and smashed the boxes. Stepping over the debris, Kate walked over to a desk and plucked a glinting styler from it.

"You've found the last Styler!" Keith cried. "That means you have all four!"

Kate did her little Ranger pose, smiling. Keith interrupted her.

"Good, good. That's all of them, then. Let's take these down to the basement."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

The duo walked out of the library and crept down the stairs to the basement. Kate groaned when she saw more boxes blocking their way. Keith peered over the boxes and blinked when he saw some wooden fences.

"I've never seen these targets before. I wonder who put them there?"

Kate shrugged, using a Bidoof she captured earlier to destroy the boxes in front of them. "Who cares?"

She proceeded to capture a Zubat that was darting dangerously towards her. She nearly got hit by its supersonic waves, but dropped the line just in time. Kate sighed as she effectively captured the Zubat and got an A rating. Using the Zubat to demolish the wooden fences, she rounded the corner, but got stopped by Keith.

"Hey, Kate…have you been hearing anything? Like weird noises?"

"Naw, Keithy." Kate smirked at him. "That's just the Indians rising from the graveyard this school was built on. Nothing big."

Keith rolled his eyes at her. "Whatever." They continued to the door. "Plunk down the Stylers here, then we go back to the dorms, and we're done." He shivered and looked around. "But hustle, will you? I can't take much more of this…"

"Fucking coward." Kate rolled her eyes at him, dropping the Stylers. Keith grabbed his Styler quickly.

"Hey! Careful with my Styler!"

"Whatever, coward."

But Keith perked up and looked at the door. "Shh…I do hear something funny."

Suddenly, four Gastlys appeared in front of them. "OH SHIT!" Kate shrieked. Keith darted back, his eyes wide.

"What are you waiting for?" he yelled at her. "Capture them!"

Kate looked back at him, her own eyes wide. "Four of them?"

"Go!" Keith yelped. Kate gulped and took out her Styler.

"Capture on!"

The first time she tried to loop them, they all scattered and broke it. Kate frowned.

"I ain't letting no wanna be ghosts get the best of _me!"_ She tried again and looped them frantically. Luckily, the ghosts were dumb enough to teleport close together and she was able to get them all at once.

"Yeah!" Kate cheered, jumping up and down. She released the Gastly (damn they were creepy…) and Keith stepped forward, calming his erratic heartbeat.

"Oh, it was just Gastly…" Keith breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing. Kate glared at him.

"You are such are coward, Keith!" she snarled, before mimicking him. "'What are you waiting for? Capture them!' What the hell, Keith?"

"Hey, I'm sorry!" Keith snapped back. "I just…panicked."

Suddenly, the door slammed open and an enraged Mr Kincaid came out. "WHO'S THERE?" He stepped forward, squinting in the dim light at Keith and Kate. "This basement is off-limits to everyone but me!"

"Ah, shit!" Kate shrieked. "It's the Kincinator!"

"Run for it!" Keith yelped. They sprinted off into the darkness, darting through the obstacles still left.

They arrived back at the upper dormitory huffing and puffing. "Well?" Rhythmi asked expectantly.

"Well _what?"_ Kate asked, rolling her eyes.

"Did you get the Stylers?" Rhythmi snapped impatiently.

"Yeah." Kate's answer was short. "I'm going to bed. Night."

She left before they could reply. Billy blinked, confused, after her. "What's wrong with Kate?"

Rhythmi rounded on Keith. "What did you do?" she snarled. Keith's jaw dropped.

"Me? Why are you blaming me?"

"Well, she _did_ just go off on a scavenger hunt in the dark, with you, all alone."

"That doesn't mean-"

Ember cleared her throat, making them look at her. "Kate and Keith were ambushed by four Gastlys."

Billy blinked and stared at Keith. "You were?"

Keith nodded. "Yeah. It was-"

"Oh!" Rhythmi gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth. "That must have been so scary!"

Keith rolled his eyes. "Yeah, just like I was about to say."

Rhythmi ignored him and turned to Ember. "But how did you know? You were up here the whole time."

Ember sighed. "I heard Keith."

An awkward silence followed. Billy finally broke it. "Well, it's off to bed!" He winked at the two girls. "You know what they say, early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise!"

"You'll never be healthy as long as you continue to play video games and pig out on nachos," Rhythmi snapped, turning around.

"You'll never be wealthy, either, because you'd probably spend it all on video games," Keith added, turning back to go to his own dormitory.

"And I think if you want to be wise you must actually study a little," Ember murmured, following Rhythmi. Billy's jaw dropped.

"What is this, pick on Billy day?"

"You wish."

"Wha-"

"What?"


End file.
